Half to garret e



(No Model.)

J. F. DONLBY. BASKET COVER PASTBNER.

PatentedDec'. 30

NiTED STATES ATENT rieten.

JAMES FRANCES DONLEY, OF BROOTON, NEYV YORK, ASSIGNOR OF Oil-E- IIALF TO GARRET E. RYOKMAN, OF SAME PLACE.

BASKET-COVER FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 443,710, dated December 30, 1890.

Application tiled July 30, 1890. Serial No. 360,340. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES Fairness DON- LEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brocton, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Basket-Cover Fastening, of which the following is a specification.

This invention rela-tes to devices adapted to secure in place the wooden cover of a basket, such as those that are used for the trans portation of grapes and other articles.

The object of the invention is to effect improvements upon basket-cover fastenings of this character that have heretofore been made, to which end the invention consists in a wire-fastener having a hook at one end adapted to be passed beneath the hoop or band that surrounds the upper edge of the basket, and having its body constructed in accordance with the specific details hereinafter more fully set forth, and illustrated in the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a basket, showing the cover thereof held in place by a number of my improved fasteners of various shapes. Figs. 2, 4, 6, S, and 10 show various constructions of my improved fastener before its application. Figs. 8, 5, 7, 9, and 1l show, respectively, the same fasteners after they are applied to the basket, the hoop and cover of the latter being shown in dotted lines.

Referring to the said drawings, the letter B designates a basket, which may be of wood or of other suitable material. and C is the thin wooden cover therefor. These baskets are extensively used at present for the shipment of fruit, especially grapes, and some means are necessary for detachably securing the cover in place. l-Ieretofore wire-fasteners have been used having acute-angled hooks at one end, which were passed beneath the hoop H, and having right-angled hooks at the other end, which were embedded in the cover C, the body of the device between its ends being forcibly bent over the corner of the cover as itwas applied; but the objection to this construction has been noted that in applying the fastener the thumb and fingers of the operator soon became sore, and that after a fastener was applied it often wabbled from side to side and became displaced during the transportation of the basket or its body upon the cover and at the outer side of the hook bowed outwardly in a disagreeable manner and was liable to be caught upon almost anything, whereby the fastener would be forcibly torn from the basket. these several objections l have devised the following fastener, embracing specific details of novelty as set forth.

My improved basket-cover fastener consists of a piece of ordinary wire of the proper size and length and having sharpened extremities, one end being bent, as at R, at right angies to the length of the main portion M of the device, whereby it may be embedded in the cover C of the basket.

In the constructions shown in Figs. 4, G, S, and 10 a sharp hook S is formed at the lower end of the fastener, which is adapted to be passed under the hoop H of the basket, as is common in the art; but above said hook and y at the junction thereof with the main portion M is formed a bend, either plain, as shown in Figs. S and 10, double, as shown in Fig. 6, or pointed, as shown in Fig. 4, all these bends being lettered E. 1n the construction shown in Fig. 2 the bend E is embraced in that part of the device which is curved and which forms the hook S in the other constructions.

In the application of the device to a basket the hook S is first introduced beneath the hoop H of the basket, when the body of the device will stand outwardly therefrom. The end R is then grasped by the operator, carried over In order to overcome the corner of the cover, whereby the bend E will be embedded in or caused to bear forcibly against the outer face of the hoop, and the pointed end R is pressed or driven into the cover. In so applying the device, if it be constructed as shown in Fig. 2, it should be applied as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, after which it is turned so as to stand outwardly from the basket, and then bent into place, as are the other forms. It Will be obvious that when the bends E are embedded in the hoop H the latter will be tightly pinched between said bends and the hooks S, and if the bends lie close against the outer face of the hoop there will be no liability of the fast- IOO ener being struck or caught and torn from the basket.

In Figs. 4: and (l I have shown the main portions Mas provided with lateral bends L near the cover-hooks R, which construction I sometimes use in order to provide thumb-pieces, by means ol which said cover-hooks may be more readily pushed Vinto the cover without hurting the finger of the operator. I prefer, however, to make the lateral bend l) in the form of an eye, as shown in Fig. 10, or sometimes in a loop, as shown in Fig. S, the eye or the loop being adjacent the cover-hook R. This construction of the thumb'piece is even better than the lateral bend; but both prevent the wabbling of the device after it has been applied in position, and also permit the withdrawal of the cover-hook, as will be understood.

The main portion M of the device shown in Fig. l0 has a number of notches or indentations N alongI its back or front-a feature ot construction which I sometimes employ and which permits the application of the fastener by a child or a person having little strength in his fingers.

Various other details of construction may suggest themselves and may be embodied without departing from the spirit of my invention; but I attach particular importance to the bend lll, which embeds the hoop ll ot the basket, and to the thumbpiece L, by means of which the coverhook R maybe embedded by the th u mb, and which prevents the dislocation of the device.

What is claimed as new ism 1. The herein-described basket-cover fastener, the same consisting ol a single piece of wire with sharpened extremities, and comprising a straight main portion M, a right-anguiar cover-hook R at one end thereof, an acute-angular hook S at the other end thereof, and a bend E between said acute-angular hook and the main portion, as and for the purpose Set forth.

2. The herein-described baskctcover fast ener, the same consisting of a single piece of wire with sharpened extremities, and comprising a main portion M, a 1-ightangular cover-hook R at one end thereof, a lateral bend adjacent said hook forming a thumbpiece L, a'nacnteangular hook. S at the other end thereof, and a bend E between said. acute-angular hook and the main portion, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The herein-described basket-cover fast ener, the same consisting of a single piece of wire comprising a main portion M, a rightangular cover-hook R at one end thereof, and an acute-angular hook Sat the other end thereof, the points of both hooks projecting from the same side of the body and their extremities being sharpened, the body of said acutean guiar hook curvingr backwardly at its junction E with the main portion M, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own Ihave hereunto ailixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J AMES FRANCES D ON LE Y.

YVitnesses:

T. D. SULLivAN, G. E. 'RYCKMAN 

